Cartoon Network Celebrates 20 Years

Weekend tributes encourage fans to vote online for all-time favorite characters, catch-phrases, villains & more; world television premiere of original music video celebrating beloved cartoon characters; October 1 kicks off with full day of birthday-themed episodes from contemporary & classic shows; concludes with 100th episode of hit series “Adventure Time” and season 4 premiere of “Regular Show.”

This October, the world’s first 24-hour, all-animation cable network will celebrate its first 20 years by hosting CARTOON NETWORK’S BIRTHDAY PARTY, an on-air and online birthday tribute created especially for kids and kids-at-heart who’ve grown up with the wildly fun and outrageous network since its launch in 1992. Launching on Oct. 1, 1992 within just two million U.S. homes, Cartoon Network has since grown to become the #1 television network among boys 6-11, and is currently seen in over 175 countries and in more than 360 million households worldwide.

Saluting both its vast library of classic animation as well as its current crop of top-rated hits, on October 1, Cartoon Network will launch its milestone birthday celebration by replacing its regular programming line-up with a full day of birthday-themed episodes from such beloved classics as The Looney Tunes, The Powerpuff Girls and Dexter’s Laboratory alongside more contemporary hit series including Adventure Time, Regular Show and The Amazing World of Gumball. The day-long event will also include a world television premiere of an original music video presented at 6:58 p.m. (ET/PT) as a tribute to Cartoon Network’s creative achievement over its first 20 years; and then viewers will be treated in prime time to the milestone 100th episode of Adventure Time (7:30 p.m.) and the much-anticipated Season 4 premiere of Regular Show (8 p.m.).

CARTOON NETWORK’S BIRTHDAY PARTY will continue each weekend in October as well, presenting select classic theatrical shorts and network series episodes spotlighting the top six finalists among creatively-themed categories that viewers can enjoy and review before logging on to CartoonNetwork.com to vote for their all-time favorite picks. This 20th Birthday celebration will culminate on Saturday and Sunday, Nov. 3 & 4, with an afternoon on-air tribute announcing the fan-selected winners of each category, bringing a fitting crescendo to the birthday festivities.

“Across our 20 year history, Cartoon Network has always surprised and entertained its audiences with funny and unique content that can only happen on Cartoon Network,” said Cartoon Network President and Chief Operating Officer Stuart Snyder. “We started with the foundation of a programming library of classic animated shows and characters, but have since grown to produce dozens of innovative, original new characters and award-winning series, movies and specials. We’ve quite a lot to celebrate and we wouldn’t want to do it without actively involving the fans that got us to where we are today!”

Birthday Party Episodes All Day on Oct. 1

The Oct. 1 birthday tribute will kick off at 6 a.m. ET/PT with a selection of birthday-themed theatrical shorts and series episodes starring many of the immortal Looney Tunes characters: Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, Elmer Fudd, Sylvester & Tweety and others. Immediately following, Cartoon Network’s latest cast of original characters—Mordecai & Rigby from Regular Show, Finn & Jake from Adventure Time, Gumball & Darwin from The Amazing World of Gumball—take the stage with an equally hilarious, if more modern look at “birthdays gone awry.” Later in the day, contemporary classics from Cartoon Network’s rich history of originals—The Powerpuff Girls, Kids Next Door, Dexter’s Laboratory, Foster’s Home for Imaginary Friends, Chowder, The Grim Adventures of Billy & Mandy, Flapjack and My Gym Partner’s a Monkey—join the 20th Birthday on-air revelry.

Highlights of the Oct. 1 all-birthday-themed line-up include the following:

Adventure Time: “Belly of the Beast” & “Mystery Train” – 8:30 a.m.: In order to cure the stomach ache of a giant, Finn & Jake must break up a big party happening in his belly. Following that, Jake takes Finn on a train ride for his birthday, but things take a turn when they find themselves in a high speed whodunit!

Chowder: “The Birthday Suits” & “Apprentice Appreciation” – 10 a.m.: Chowder and the gang must make a special delivery to a food suit-themed party. However, when the dish spills over, shrinking their fruit costumes, they must find new costumes before making it to the party. Then, It's Apprentice Appreciation Day, and Chowder is looking forward to his annual Slawberry Cake. But when Mung hears that Endive is throwing a huge party for Panini, he decides to throw Chowder a bigger party with ice sculptures, a food animal circus, and no slawberry cake!

Foster’s Home for Imaginary Friends: “I Only Have Surprise for You” – 12 p.m.: Bloo, Wilt & Coco convince the rest of the Imaginary Friends and Frankie to plan a big surprise birthday party for Mac. However Mac wants no part of it for fear that Bloo will somehow humiliate him. Are Mac’s fears justified in the end?

The Powerpuff Girls: “Birthday Bash” & – 3 p.m.: Blossom, Buttercup and Bubbles are excited to celebrate their birthday, but are unaware that especially dangerous and destructive “gifts” await them from Townsville’s arch enemies Mojo Jojo, Princess, Him and The Amoeba Boys. Afterward, the Powerpuff Girls invite their friends from Pokey Oaks Kindergarten to their house for a slumber party, but do not realize that Mojo Jojo plans to sneak into the house as Mojesha, so he can destroy their plans.

Codename: Kids Next Door: “Operation C.A.K.E.D” & “Operation P.A.R.T.Y.” – 4 p.m.: The Kids Next Door attempt to stop a birthday party for their arch-enemies, the Delightful Children From Down The Lane. But a big surprise and a monstrous guest stands between them and the greatest birthday cake ever. Later on, it's Kuki's birthday, and girls including Numbuh 4 are invited! But what happens if a certain girl tries to sneak out the prized Rainbow Monkey cake?

Regular Show: “Free Cake” & “Party Pete” – 5:30 p.m.: Mordecai and Rigby want some cake, but lack the money to buy it. They find out its Skip’s birthday and try to throw him a surprise party, but as usual, things go terribly awry. Next, Mordecai and Rigby look for help when their awesome house party turns lame.

Original Music Video Pays Tribute to Cartoon Network’s First 20 Years

At 6:58 p.m. ET/PT, Cartoon Network will conclude its birthday-themed programming with the world television premiere of an original music video produced especially to celebrate the network’s 20 years of animated entertainment. Featuring original music by Mad Decent and original animation created by London-based ILOVEDUST, this two-minute music video spotlights nearly 100 cartoon character all-stars who’ve contributed to Cartoon Network’s remarkable legacy. Shortly following its premiere, the music video will be made available for free download at iTunes, Xbox and Amazon.com, as well as subsequent viewing at CartoonNetwork.com, Cartoon Network’s YouTube channel at www.youtube.com/user/cartoonnetwork and Cartoon Network’s Facebook page.

At 7 p.m., Cartoon Network’s top-rated Monday night line-up of original animated comedies will then present special servings of its current hit series, including two important programming highlights—the 100th episode of the award-winning Adventure Time (7:30 p.m.), and the fourth season premiere of the #1 show among boys 2012-to-date, Regular Show (8:00pm). To whet viewer appetites, Finn and Jake help the frog people deal with Price Huge for the 100th episode of Adventure Time and Mordecai and Rigby are the only ones who can save their park from the grips of destruction in the season four premiere of Regular Show.Both shows represent the ongoing legacy of signature original programming that Cartoon Network has achieved across its first 20 years.

Viewers Invited to Pick Their Favorites from Cartoon Network’s 20-Year History of Characters and Shows

Across the first weekend in October (Oct. 6 & 7), CARTOON NETWORK’S BIRTHDAY PARTY (11 a.m. – 7 p.m. ET/PT) will extend a special invitation to all viewers to participate month-long in a fun online voting opportunity at CartoonNetwork.com where fans can pick their all-time favorite cartoon characters and shows from Cartoon Network’s first 20 years of family entertainment. As one might expect, voting categories will be appropriately creative for a cartoon world where anything can happen: “Bestest Best Friends,” “Catchiest Catchphrase,” “Favorite Blue Character,” “What Show Would You Join?”, “The Baddest,” “Sweet Ride” and “Favorite Four Legged Friend.” Of course, fans also will be able to vote in more traditional categories, including “Favorite Character,” the “Best Action Team,” “Best Gadget” and the “Best Cartoon Place to Live.”

Over the following three weekends, Oct. 13-14, 20-21 and 27-28, Cartoon Network will carve out a seven-hour, mid-day programming birthday tribute (Saturdays, 11 a.m. - 6 p.m., Sundays, 11 a.m. - 5 p.m.) to remind viewers of the ongoing viewer-voting promotion at CartoonNetwork.com, spotlighting animated finalists with favorite episodic samples of why they especially qualified for each category. Ultimately, on Saturday, Nov. 3, and Sunday, Nov. 4, viewers will be treated to a “Winners Weekend” to learn who America voted for as their favorites among key categories, with on-air tributes to winning characters and shows running from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Saturday, and 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Sunday.

Further details surrounding CARTOON NETWORK’S BIRTHDAY PARTY programming highlights may be found in October television schedule listings.

Cartoon Network is the #1 U.S. television network among boys 6-11. Currently seen in 99 million U.S. homes and 178 countries around the world, Cartoon Network is Turner Broadcasting System, Inc.’s ad-supported cable service now available in HD offering the best in original, acquired and classic entertainment for kids and families. In addition to Emmy-winning original programming and industry-leading digital apps and online games, Cartoon Network embraces key social issues affecting families with solution-oriented initiatives such as Stop Bullying: Speak Up and the Move It Movement.

Turner Broadcasting System, Inc., a Time Warner company, creates and programs branded news, entertainment, animation and young adult media environments on television and other platforms for consumers around the world.

Source: Cartoon Network

Jennifer Wolfe is Director of News & Content at Animation World Network.